Many Thanks
by Mad Mogg
Summary: There were many things Alex was taught, and they all seem to lead back to one person... Oneshot. Short.


**Disclaimer:** If I owned Alex Rider, I might actually be half way decent at writing. Actually I'd be really good. But I'm not. Oh also I'd be a good bit richer.

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Alex always thought about his uncle, well he didn't always think about his uncle, but when he did, he thought of either the fun they had together or –more frequently- how horrid it was that his uncle had left him in the grasps of MI6, that he had trained him up like a pig for slaughter.

People should be allowed to grow up and do what they want, not have adults making every decision. Not choosing whether or not he should have to risk his life, to miss school and not have time for fun and revision, having to miss out on the proclaimed 'more important' one.

However as Alex ducked under yet another bush, avoiding the ammunition fired at him he couldn't help but think of his uncle, he gritted his teeth, for some reason the man seemed to weave his way into everything, and he had no right to be linked to everything Alex did, he was dead, gone, gone from the mortal world of hell.

He rolled just as Ian had taught him to do, resenting the fact that almost everything he could do was at least in some way connected to Ian, like a puppeteer and his puppet, only Alex could think for himself and he would do something, anything...

A bullet whizzed overhead, he knew that the instruction came in handy when he came under fire. It wasn't so hard, mostly the targets were poor shots, with a few decent ones where basic skill was required, but he stayed low, low and quiet, the SAS might have even given the slightest twitch of the lips had they heard. Or maybe not. Probably not.

The SAS were bastards, the lot of them. They could do what they liked for the country, but they still seemed to view themselves as almighty. Idiots. Not a brain between them. Who would volunteer to be in the SAS, actually try and work their way up the ladder of shouting and have not only more people to yell at, but also more people to be bellowed at by?

Crawling through the undergrowth he crept up on one of the snipers; clearly an amateur, rejoicing in the cry of pain when his target was hit, yes that was one thing SCORPIA had helped him with, always hitting the target, even if the weapon appeared to be irredeemable.

Capturing an enemy who was re-loading and hardly concentrating, he hurried towards his safety base, after he had tied the captive up with some rope he just happened to have on his person, and the gag, he just happened to have in his pocket was secured, but that was _entirely_ coincidental.

The SAS had taught him how best to tie someone up, or at least refreshed his mind on it. If it wasn't for Ian he wouldn't have learnt any of it, he thought as he sat down on the makeshift stool; a piece of tree which would no doubt later be turned into firewood. It couldn't be described as comfortable in the slightest, but he had somewhere to rest his arms anyhow, even if it was just his lap.

A figure crept in, Alex stayed quiet, as if he hoped they wouldn't notice him if he stayed frozen to the spot, as if a human figure would be invisible in the ancient dingy hut, with weeds poking thought he windows and the stench of musk which was almost overcoming, not that must impaired one's vision, unless of course they were doubled over and making gagging noises in the doorway, that did slightly affect it.

Once they had recovered from their nasal attack the person flicked the oil lamp, lighting the room ever so slightly. The scene could have been taken out of a film, well except for the fact the camera crew would need gas masks and there really wasn't enough room for all of the equipment. Then ran the short distance to him, it would have taken him all of a second or so to walk it, but the messy haired, twig covered lunatic seemed not to care much about that, but he was an ally, if a nutty one, so it would have to do.

The person appeared unaffected by the stifled groan from the tied up fellow slouched in the far corner, or he was just too hyperactive to care, given the gun waving which was taking place Alex was willing to bet on the latter.

"Hey mate, how did you do?"

"Alright, we have a captive" Alex replied, wondering exactly how many energy tablets, it had managed to get a hold of, as he was now almost skipping around, almost but not quite after all men simply didn't skip, it was far from masculine. Or at least that was what he suspected it would say, when questioned about his pointless bouncy steps around the stall Alex was sitting on.

"Wicked, I only shot 'bout fifteen of them" Despite the fact he had praised him and used 'I only' Alex could hear the boastfulness in his voice, or perhaps it was just his pride speaking, given the energy injected into the sentence Alex wondered whether he ever got tired, then again, he probably had stopped for a break at some point, like a few of the fools on enemy's side.

"Yeah, well, they taught me, as did Ian, he used to take me when I was younger. Besides, you did better than Adams here" Alex gestured to the boy heaped in the corner as he tried explain away his sheer brilliance, not that it was really brilliance, more luck and the right education, a type boys across the country would say they would kill to have "You did pretty well for an amateur Tom!" Alex grinned, dodging the playful swipe aimed at his head.

It was undeniable that paintballing was one of those times Ian's disguised teaching came in handy...

...The Spanish exam he was going to have to tomorrow morning was another example.

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**A/N** Erm, yeah, I think there are at least a few other paintballing fics out there. Honestly though this wasn't based on them though.

No, this was the result of my misremembering of the 'Flash Rider' prompt, which I had misunderstood the meaning of the word for anyway.

I'm not completely hopeless, honest...

Almost but not quite.

Oh and I give my apologies for the multitude of errors I have most probably missed.

Oh also, because I've been asked and I don't think J and Ara will mind- The Flash Rider thing is some bi-monthly prompt errr here's a the address

community . livejournal . com /  
flash_rider/ .

Now I think you have to add something onto it, but if you can't make it work then just go and talk to one of them. :D


End file.
